Jun. 13, 2013

The Reporter Media file photo

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For The Reporter Media

Law enforcement has arrested the man who allegedly stole a van at the Shopko parking lot while the owner's child was in it.

The 19-year-old Fond du Lac man was apprehended in the van and taken into custody on Wednesday, according to a Fond du Lac Police Department press release.

At about 6 a.m. Wednesday, the West Allis Police Department notified the Fond du Lac Police Department that it had located the stolen Chrysler Town and Country van, which was taken from the Fond du Lac Shopko on Monday afternoon.

Fond du Lac officers traveled to West Allis, where they interviewed the suspect. He admitted to being involved in the theft, and was then taken to the Fond du Lac County Jail and is being held on charges of operating a motor vehicle without the owner's consent and bail jumping.

The owner of the vehicle told officers that she left her 8-year-old son in the vehicle at Shopko on late Monday afternoon. When she returned, the van and her child were missing, according to the report. Several minutes later, it was determined that the van was stolen when the suspect used the keys that were left in the ignition. The suspect dropped the child off in the area of Military Road and Seymour Street and then left the area traveling south on Military Road. The child, who had a cell phone, was reunited with his father. The child was not threatened or physically harmed. It is unknown whether or not the suspect knew the child was in the car.